The catchphrase "we do what we do" is most often associated with the Riverheads football team, but it can also apply to Stuarts Draft and its frantic style of basketball. So we saw it in action tonight as the Cougars established a 15-20 point working margin early and held it throughout for an 85-68 win over the visiting Gladiators. They scored the first ten points of the game and were never seriously threatened.
For those of you who have never seen them, the Cougars carry a 15-man roster and substitute five at a time in about 3 minute intervals, which allows them to remain fresher than the other team. And on EVERY possession by the opponent, they press and trap and contest every single pass with the goal of stealing and giving themselves as many possessions as possible. I guess you could call it high school's version of the old "40 minutes of hell," or 32 in this case.
If the Cougars deviated any from their usual game plan, it was that they did most of their scoring inside tonight, either in the half-court offense or by scoring in transition after a steal. So as a result, they relied much less than usual on the three-point basket. After reportedly knocking down 20 of them last night against Wilson (and trust me folks, that was not even a record for them), I doubt if they hit more than 3 or 4 tonight.
Without seeing a box score, I would be pretty sure that Riverheads hit more triples than the Draft did tonight. I keep unofficial scoring for Riverheads to help with these recaps and I had five different Gladiators connecting for a total of six treys.
Because of the Cougars' success inside, I would guess that John Gumann was their leading scorer. But Taylor Reed also had a nice game inside and among the guards, I would say that Robert Peck, JonPaul Rader, and Antonio Ruiz-Haynes were among their leading scorers. Sorry if I missed anyone.
For Riverheads, their attack was more balanced than usual, with three in double figures and three others just narrowly missing it. Brett Hostetler led the way with 14, followed by Grant Painter (11), Austin Craft (10), Braeson Fulton (9), Avery Schaefer (8), and Drew Bond (7.) Each of those with the exception of the big man (Craft) hit from beyond the arc.
Schaefer's game might deserve special mention as he is only a sophomore (brother of the football star as you likely figured out) and he sat out all of last year. But he had a hustling floor game tonight and is coming along rather nicely. Probably just needs a little more time to get back in basketball shape.
The Gladiators will next travel to Wilson Friday night where they will hope to avoid an 0-3 week. Comparing tonight's game to Wilson's on the same floor last night (a 101-75 Cougar win) would lead you to think that Friday's game in Fishersville could go either way.
The Cougar Cubs made it a clean sweep tonight with a 68-52 win that DID feature a whole bunch of threes from the home team. But sadly that game also featured some of the most questionable officiating we have seen this year. Did you guys know that a three-pointer that bounces high off the back iron and goes completely over the backboard is not considered out of play? That was just one of the highlights of that game.
Fortunately it was not a close enough game for that lack of professionalism to make any difference in the outcome. Zack Adams and Dilllon Annese had the best games for the Big Red.
For those of you who have never seen them, the Cougars carry a 15-man roster and substitute five at a time in about 3 minute intervals, which allows them to remain fresher than the other team. And on EVERY possession by the opponent, they press and trap and contest every single pass with the goal of stealing and giving themselves as many possessions as possible. I guess you could call it high school's version of the old "40 minutes of hell," or 32 in this case.
If the Cougars deviated any from their usual game plan, it was that they did most of their scoring inside tonight, either in the half-court offense or by scoring in transition after a steal. So as a result, they relied much less than usual on the three-point basket. After reportedly knocking down 20 of them last night against Wilson (and trust me folks, that was not even a record for them), I doubt if they hit more than 3 or 4 tonight.
Without seeing a box score, I would be pretty sure that Riverheads hit more triples than the Draft did tonight. I keep unofficial scoring for Riverheads to help with these recaps and I had five different Gladiators connecting for a total of six treys.
Because of the Cougars' success inside, I would guess that John Gumann was their leading scorer. But Taylor Reed also had a nice game inside and among the guards, I would say that Robert Peck, JonPaul Rader, and Antonio Ruiz-Haynes were among their leading scorers. Sorry if I missed anyone.
For Riverheads, their attack was more balanced than usual, with three in double figures and three others just narrowly missing it. Brett Hostetler led the way with 14, followed by Grant Painter (11), Austin Craft (10), Braeson Fulton (9), Avery Schaefer (8), and Drew Bond (7.) Each of those with the exception of the big man (Craft) hit from beyond the arc.
Schaefer's game might deserve special mention as he is only a sophomore (brother of the football star as you likely figured out) and he sat out all of last year. But he had a hustling floor game tonight and is coming along rather nicely. Probably just needs a little more time to get back in basketball shape.
The Gladiators will next travel to Wilson Friday night where they will hope to avoid an 0-3 week. Comparing tonight's game to Wilson's on the same floor last night (a 101-75 Cougar win) would lead you to think that Friday's game in Fishersville could go either way.
The Cougar Cubs made it a clean sweep tonight with a 68-52 win that DID feature a whole bunch of threes from the home team. But sadly that game also featured some of the most questionable officiating we have seen this year. Did you guys know that a three-pointer that bounces high off the back iron and goes completely over the backboard is not considered out of play? That was just one of the highlights of that game.
Fortunately it was not a close enough game for that lack of professionalism to make any difference in the outcome. Zack Adams and Dilllon Annese had the best games for the Big Red.
